Treasures from Chatsworth

Treasures from Chatsworth: The Exhibition, a rare chance to view some of the pieces comprising the legendary Chatsworth House Collection, was on show at Sotheby’s New York, in 2019.

August 11th, 2019

Laura ad infinitum

Michael Craig-Martin, Digital portrait of Laura, Lady Burlington, 2010. The computerized portrait is live, changing colors every 5 – 15 seconds. The program randomly selects the color and duration of each unique sequence.

The portrait was commissioned by Lord and Lady Burlington, the son and daughter-in-law of the 12th Duke of Devonshire.

Using a black line portrait of Lady Burlington, Craig-Martin’s software divides the image into nine different color areas (hair, skin, lips, eyebrows, etc.). A 52″ monitor projects the portrait, which is vertically mounted to resemble a typical framed painting. The software changes the color of the image every 5 to 15 seconds, but this is no loop – instead, the software is programmed to randomly select the colors and timing of each sequence, resulting in millions of possible image combinations. The result is truly a sight to behold.

Born in Dublin, Ireland, artist Craig-Martin attended the Yale University School of Art before working as a tutor at Goldsmiths College in London; Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin are just two of the many young artists he taught. His work is found in a number of public collections, including the Irish Museum of Modern Art, New York’s Museum of Modern Art, New York, Tate and the Centre Pompidou.

Laura’s portrait was one of the Treasures from Chatsworth: The Exhibition, on show at Sotheby’s New York, in 2019.

August 11th, 2019

Prickles and Tickles

Hugh Hayden || Hedges, 2019
Gabriela Corretjer-Contreras || Llevatelo To’No Me Deje Na, 2019 [detail]
Gabriela Corretjer-Contreras || Llevatelo To’No Me Deje Na, 2019 [detail]
Gabriela Corretjer-Contreras || Llevatelo To’No Me Deje Na, 2019 [detail]
Gabriela Corretjer-Contreras || Llevatelo To’No Me Deje Na, 2019 [detail]
Dorothea Tanning || Evening in Sedona, 1976 || Oil on canvas
Hugh Hayden || Hedges, 2019

Open Call: Group 2 @The_Shed [JUN 19 – AUG 25, 2019]

August 3rd, 2019

It’s all just a love contest || The Shed

Launched as part of The Shed’s inaugural year program, Open Call was a large-​scale commissioning program for early-career NYC-based artists.

Poetry Slot Machine, 2019 || Saint Abdullah and Daniel Cupcic
Poetry Slot Machine, 2019 || Saint Abdullah and Daniel Cupcic

”Poetry Slot Machine rewards participants with poems by 14h-century Persian poet Hafiz instead of the chance winning of money. Participants pull the handle to reveal a set of randomized passages from Hafiz’s poetry, traditionally read for guidance for the future.”

This was my reward.


The Forever Museum Archive: The Untitled/A Template for Portable Monuments, 2019 [detail] || Onyedika Chuke
The Forever Museum Archive: The Untitled/A Template for Portable Monuments, 2019 [detail] || Onyedika Chuke
The Forever Museum Archive: The Untitled/A Template for Portable Monuments, 2019 || Onyedika Chuke

Open Call: Group 2 @The_Shed [JUN 19 – AUG 25, 2019]

August 3rd, 2019

Manitoga || The Woodland

”Over 70 years ago, Russel and Mary Wright acquired an abandoned quarry and surrounding hillside in the Lower Hudson Valley, and he slowly restored this land to a place of extraordinary beauty. Inspired by the legacy of the Wappinger people, the ancestral residents of the area, Wright called the emerging vision for these 75 acres “Manitoga” or Place of Great Spirit.”

Although the many elements of the garden are familiar—house, terraces, parking lot, trellis, and paths—nothing is conventional. Wright’s integrating vision changed all the familiar components, blending the built elements and the natural landscape together so that each was enriched, enhanced, and transformed by the other. Just as the house is interwoven with the site, the hillside is connected by views to its larger context of the Hudson River Valley, and the visitors themselves are involved in an intimate and unfolding relationship to the place.” [source]

The Russel Wright Design Center

Garrison, N.Y.

July 28th, 2019